24 police stations to be set up in tribal districts

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has announced to establish police stations in all the merged tribal districts of erstwhile Fata.

According to a notification issued by the Home and Tribal Affairs Department of the KP government, 24 police stations will be established in all the tribal districts to ensure law and order in these areas. The notification mentioned that the police stations in Bajaur tribal district will be established in Khar and Nawagai. In Mohmand tribal district, the police stations will be set up in Upper Mohmnad, Lower Mohmand and Baizai. In Khyber tribal district, the police stations will be set up in Khyber and Landikotal sub-divisions.

The notification said two police stations will also be set up in Orakzai tribal district. Three police stations will be established in Kurram tribal district which include Upper Kurram, Lower Kurram and Central Kurram police stations. Similarly, police stations will be set up in Mir Ali, Miranshah and Razmak areas of North Waziristan tribal district and Wana, Sarwakai and Ladha areas of South Waziristan tribal district.

The notification further mentioned that one police station each will also be set up in Darra Adamkhel (Frontier Region Kohat), Wazir (FR Bannu), Betani (FR Lakki Marwat), Drazenda (FR Dera Ismail Khan), Jandola (FR Tank) and Hasankhel (FR Peshawar).

The establishment of the police stations in the tribal districts is part of the mega plan of merger of the tribal districts into KP. However, there is still no clarity over the exact jurisdiction of the police in the tribal districts and its coordination with the Local Levies and Khassadar forces.

The Khassadar force has already made it clear that they are against deployment of police in their areas. They have also held protests and press conferences to voice their concerns, saying that with arrival of police in the tribal districts, their future will become uncertain. The earlier plans of merging the Khassadars with KP Police have also been not implemented.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has now drafted a bill to bring the Levies force under its direct control. The bill envisages that the 15,000 tribal Levies force will have the same duties as KP Police and it will come under Home and Tribal Affairs Department.